Olympia healthcare workers go on strike

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

OLYMPIA — A dispute over healthcare plans for hospital employees steered workers out of Providence St. Peter Hospital and to picket lines early Monday morning.

About 500 workers walked off the job in Olympia in what is the largest healthcare strike in the state in a decade. The workers plan on striking until Saturday if a deal is not reached.

At issue are rising healthcare costs – recent changes to the health care plan at Providence St. Peter increased deductibles and decreased out-of-pocket maximums for families — the union said the changes could cost the average worker about 45 percent more out-of-pocket costs for health care.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said if the hospital fails to reach an agreement by Wednesday, 150 more workers will join the picket line. The union represents nurses, housekeeping staff and other hospital workers.

“We work at a hospital, we are around sick people all the time and we love our jobs. But what are we supposed to do if we get sick, we need health care too,” certified nursing assistant Abbey Bruce said.

Bruce said the change in the healthcare plan is costing her $400 more each month for the medicine her husband needs.

But the hospital insists the health care plans they are offering are fair and provide good healthcare options for workers.

The hospital added that it is ready for the strike and said it is fully staffed and patient care will not be compromised.

6 comments

Vince

Somebody needs to explain to me why a company that provides health care cannot do so for its own employees. It is like working at an auto repair shop but having to take your car to someone else for repairs. Makes no sense to me.

guest

I own an auto repair shop and many of the people I have worked for in the past would charge their employees to use the shop to repair their own cars if they would even let them at all. Those kind of people are one of many reasons I went into business for myself. Now Obamacare threatens us all.

Thinker

Of course premiums are going up. What did you think would happen when insurance companies are no longer allowed to turn away people with a pre-existing condition. They have to make up their losses somehow so they do that in raising premiums. Thanks Obama, you’re really looking out for the little guy, especially since your healthcare isn’t affected by these laws at ALL and will always be the best in the world. Talk about an elitist jerk.

JaniceOly

I listened to a report (on NPR?) in the last few weeks about the obscene profits that hospitals are making. I would question the allegation that hospitals cannot afford decent health care plans for their workers.